"For example, who are they?" Tang Huan asked casually as he put down his cup. Pen Fun Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

"The biggest one is News Corporation......" Steve Case, who was in a position of high power and obviously a growing city, paused for a moment before continuing: "And Time Warner Turner Broadcasting Group." ”

The richest man groaned: "Then what do you really think in your heart?"

Steve Case, who seemed to have thought about it for a long time, replied fluently: "Internet applications have indeed brought a lot of new elements, so much so that they have caused a shock to the traditional application model. On the contrary, the two should complement each other -- the former opens up ideas and increases vitality for the latter, and the latter helps the former to be down-to-earth and improve their ability to resist risks. ”

"You're calm and pragmatic. Tang Huan praised with a little surprise.

It has to be said that since the beginning of the Internet era, some trend-setters have become almost "themselves are the almighty God", and venture capital has also indulged in such arrogance.

However, the actual situation is that even when e-commerce was popular more than ten years later, it was not able to completely replace physical stores, but eventually tended to the joint development of online and offline.

In the final analysis, no matter how hot the hype is, IT technology products such as the Internet are in essence tools to serve traditional industries.

The reason why the development of the Internet in the United States is the first to get better is not because there is a corresponding material foundation to support it - there are a large number of companies with traditional models, which value the new opportunities it brings, and are willing to pay for it.

Therefore, whenever he sees a business plan that fools the Internet application to the level of "perpetual motion machine", the richest man will be directly vigilant.

Unexpectedly. Steve Case, who is already a successful model of Internet entrepreneurship, can actually "sink" his heart and rationally locate the "new" of the Internet and the "old" of traditional industries.

Tang Huan asked in a deep voice, "In this way, are you inclined to cooperate deeply with AOL and traditional media?"

"I think AOL is the best fit for it to really get bigger. Steve Keys smiled and probed: "It's just that AOL is still relatively weak compared to Time Warner Turner Broadcasting Group, and Time Group has acquired Warner Media and Turner Broadcasting Company all the way, and its digestion ability is amazing-I'm afraid that when the time comes, AOL will become another AOL." ”

"Your worries are very reasonable. Tang Huan nodded, "Let's take IBM's acquisition of Lotus Software last year, that is, in half a year, the original management of Lotus Software Company has been wiped out. ”

Steve Keys was so bluntly exemplified by the example of the big boss that he laughed and didn't know how to answer for a while.

Tang Huan continued, "Although I have some say in Time Warner Turner Broadcasting Group, I can't guarantee that there will be no major changes in AOL's management at that time. ”

"However, this prediction we made is based on the contrast between AOL and Time Warner Turner Broadcasting Group. The richest man looked at the subordinates he had cultivated and said with a playful smile: "And one of the characteristics of the Internet is to create miracles -- who is sure that in two years, AOL will not be better than Time Warner Turner Broadcasting Group?"

Steve Case thought for a moment, then suddenly said, "I see. ”

"Then you should know how you did it. Tang Huan smiled and waved his hand, "I won't keep you any longer - after the meeting with you, I will go to the meeting of Pacific Telecom and Datang Mobile Communications Company non-stop." ”

"I know what to do. Steve Keys replied confidently and got up to take his leave.

Looking at the back of the other party's departure, Tang Huan was thoughtful.

He is not surprised by the ultimate destination of AOL's first glimpse, because the convergence in the capital world is sometimes like a door-to-door meeting to marry a family of children - after looking at each other, they still have to talk.

Take AOL as an example, there will not be too many people who can match it now, and a force like News Corp., which has always had grievances, will definitely be eliminated first; coupled with the factor of being close to the water and getting the moon first, the remaining options are about to come out.

Since this trend is strengthening, the corresponding layout should also be considered - after all, with the stakeholders of Tang's richest man, it is better not to fail gloomily!

It's just that, as I said to Steve Keys just now, Tang Huan has more important meetings waiting for him to attend.

Not long ago, on February 8, U.S. President Bill Clinton signed a new version of the Telecommunications Act, passed by the 104th Congress of the United States on January 3 this year, announcing its formal implementation.

You know, the 1996 version of the telecommunications law was introduced in a big way - the first telecommunications law in the United States dates back to 1934. The famous Federal Communications Commission was born from this. This year's new telecommunications law is the first U.S. telecommunications-related law to significantly amend the 1934 version of the telecommunications law in nearly 62 years, and it can be called the second milestone in this field.

To put it in the shortest and most straightforward terms, the effect of the 1996 version of the Telecommunications Law is to completely break the long-term monopoly in the three major fields of cable television, long-distance television, and local telephone, and introduce a complete and adequate competition mechanism.

Don't look at this purpose as "pure", but the doorway is not "serving the people".

The U.S. telecommunications industry is divided into two broad groups of authorities -- the Federal Communications Commission at the national level, which regulates, supervises, and regulates interstate and international communications in the United States, and has many powers to approve, build, and modify tariffs, while the public interest commissions at the state level make decisions on communications services in their respective states according to the law.

Since the enactment of the 1934 version of the Telecommunications Act, the U.S. telecommunications industry has been effectively monopolized by the Federal Communications Commission, and it was not until 1969, with the establishment of the MCI, that there were signs of competition in the long-distance telephone sector.

In 1984, when AT&T was dismantled into "one big and seven small", the pattern of long-distance telephone was officially the top three monopoly of the new AT&T, and MCI and Sprint accompanied the prince to study.

The corresponding local telephone field is still monopolized, and it is divided among the seven former Bell local telephone companies, including Pacific Telecom.

In the early 1980s, the cable television field, which started a little later, was dominated by large companies like TCI under the control of John Malone.

As for the youngest mobile cellular phone field, it is fully competitive, after more than 10 years of money-burning war, basically by Datang Mobile Communications Company and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, which acquired the McCaw Cellular Telephone Company, these two strong two joint control, but in view of the "sitting on 2G, looking forward to 3G" communication technology update trend, the competition has its own special fierceness.

At the present stage, the pattern of the telecommunications field in the United States is roughly the same, which can be said to occupy the top of the mountain, and there are many powerful and powerful people.

It is entirely conceivable that the promulgation of the 1996 version of the Telecommunications Law, which tried to break the rules and regulations of these interests, was not driven by the political ~ political elites who governed the country, seeing that the people at the bottom were suffering from the monopoly of the industry, and to re-engage in a set of top-level design, in the final analysis, capital wanted to shuffle the cards and change to another way of playing.

For example, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, the leader in the field of long-distance telephones, was previously only able to operate long-distance telephone services according to the guidelines set by the Federal Communications Commission, but from the date of implementation of the 1996 version of the Telecommunications Act, it can also enter the field of local telephones.

By analogy, the former Bell local telephone company, such as Pacific Telecom, which was limited to the field of local calls, can also extend its business tentacles into the field of long-distance calls.

To put it more bluntly, as long as there is enough capital and sufficient resources, it is not unimaginable that a new type of giant will be created across all fields such as long-distance telephones, local telephones, mobile cellular phones, and cable television.

Furthermore, the impact of the 1996 Telecommunications Act will not be limited to the field of communications, but will also change the landscape of the media field.

After all, media outlets such as the Big Three TV networks specialize in providing content, and just like Hollywood's film production companies, profits are not guaranteed by drought and flood -- NBC is not just being wantonly bought, split, and sold by General Electric!

Naturally, telecommunications companies that control licenses, cables, and other resources, in the name of breaking the monopoly under the 1996 version of the telecommunications law, have a natural incentive to "get closer" to those media companies downstream.

Of course, such operations can be carried out without direct action, but only controlled by capital in the back.

Since 2005, the U.S. media has been monopolized by six giants: General Electric, News Corp., Disney Corporation, Viacom, Time Warner, and CBS -- among them, the 1996 version of the Telecommunications Law and the Internet are objectively absolutely indispensable.

What is the current pattern of the American media industry?

In 1983, during the Reagan era, there were nearly 50 large media outlets in the United States, and it would be a hassle to coordinate an industry conference, but this year, the number of large media outlets in the United States has been reduced to 10 -- when the meeting is held again, the executives whose names can be remembered directly can just call each other and give a notice, and I don't know how many times easier.

Think about it, in 1996 and 2005, 10 and 6, it is not an exaggeration to say that it is one step away.

However, thanks to Tang Huan's secret gift, it is still unknown whether the pattern of the six major dominating the American media can finally be formed.

First, News Corp.'s expansion in Hollywood and cable television in the mid-1980s was sniped by Rupert Murdoch's adversary, Ted Turner, who, with the support of the richest man, frustrated the plans of the old enemy, and virtually boosted the new syndicate when the merger of Tyner Broadcasting and Time Warner greatly increased.

Second, Disney, under the quiet suppression of Tang Tycoon, seems to have begun to deviate - its theme park business, instead of reducing its dependence, it has become more reliant on it, so that its interest in real estate is becoming stronger. The richest man was active in the renovation of the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which he led after the Los Angeles earthquake.

In addition, Universal Pictures, which was hated by Tang Tycoon, was still dying even if he hugged Panasonic's thigh, Sony Entertainment, which acquired Columbia Pictures, was still struggling, Paramount fell into the hands of Barry Diller, the former CEO who had left, and Lei Shidong was cleaned up and co-opted to go to theaters...... There are so many variables like that.

However, one thing should not change, that is, the current 10 major media industries, under the influence of the 1996 version of the Telecommunications Law and the Internet, further monopolize the general trend of concentration.

Even though the computing power is far beyond the brain of ordinary people, comparable to a super server equipped with hundreds of CPUs, Tang Huan is still a little dizzy by these complicated relationships.

He rubbed his eyebrows and turned his attention entirely to the meeting that was currently underway, where a blonde supervisor was talking about the slides.

"The 1996 version of the Telecommunications Law wants to launch all-round competition in the three major markets of cable television, long-distance telephones, and local telephones, and the specific impact of this is that the Bell local telephone company, which originally basically monopolized local telephones, will face competition from long-distance telephone companies and cable television operators, while the operators who originally monopolized cable television will first face challenges from local telephone companies. ”

The blonde beauty supervisor marked a series of figures: "In addition to the seven Bell local telephone companies, nearly 1,400 small telephone companies are expected to enter the long-distance telephone market, which Pacific Telecom is looking forward to, in addition to the three existing monopoly companies of AT&T, MCI, and Sprint, is expected to usher in more than 300 large and small competitors." ”

If you don't think about winning, think about defeat first.

While attacking the long-awaited long-awaited long-distance telephone market, Pacific Telecom must clearly consider how to maintain its old turf -- the local telephone service -- in such a severe competitive situation.

It is important to know that the 1996 version of the Telecommunications Law promotes all-round competition, but there are detailed provisions.

For example, in the area of "interconnection", it specifically requires that leading telecommunications companies must provide competitors with access services at any point, break down costs and tariffs in detail, and provide competitors with equal and reasonable unbundled prices; local telephone exchanges must meet the "competitive list"; numbers can be portable; and competitors are allowed to use their own facilities or equipment, including wire boxes.

It is a joy to see someone else's job, but it is sad to be robbed of a job by others.

So, in front of the big boss, everyone began to express their opinions, among which there were many tricks that could not be put on the table, and the richest man who listened to it with an expressionless face smiled faintly.